Preview of TA Club World Cup Group B: Paris Saint-Germain is playing Atletico Madrid again, who can advance to the Death Group

The new Club World Cup will kick off this Sunday, with 32 teams from six continents going to compete. To this end, TheAthletic analyzed the popularity and highlights of each group's qualifying. Author Jeff Rueter brings us an analysis of Group B.

The 2024 South American Liberators Cup champion and 2022 Central and North American Champions League champion were divided into the Club World Cup group draw - but considering that the other two teams in Group B are the new UEFA Champions League champion Paris Saint-Germain and the traditional La Liga powerhouse Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, who also has the title of Intercontinental Championship, and the Seattle Gulfman, are relatively weak in comparison. Therefore, Group B is undoubtedly the strongest group in the eight groups of this competition.

So, will Paris Saint-Germain, which just won the Champions League championship, suffer from "Champions League Final Syndrome"? Will Diego Simeone's Iron Blooded Teacher relax a little while on the "vacation" of the United States? Can these two teams from the American continent shake the European powerhouses?

Schedule at a glance

•June 16: Paris Saint-Germain vs Atletico Madrid (: 03:00)

•June 16: Seattle Bayer vs Bottafogo (: 10:00)

•June 20: Seattle Bayer vs Atletico Madrid (: 06:00)

•June 20: Paris Saint-Germain vs Botafogo (: 09:00)

•June 24: Seattle Gulfman vs Paris Saint-Germain (: 03:00)

•June 24: Atletico Madrid vs. Botafogo (: 03:00)

Popular team: Paris Saint-Germain

Since the Qatar Consortium took over in 2011, Paris Saint-Germain has attracted widespread attention with its strong financial resources. Now, they have long since gotten rid of the image of a "nude" who relied on building up stars to compete for honor and gradually entered a stable development track. The young French newcomers in the team are supporting a group of more selfless star players than the "Messi Mbappe Neymar" period.

Before this season, few teams seemed out of place with "efficient frontcourt pressing" like Paris Saint-Germain. At that time, they signed attackers to "accustom" to high-priced prices often at the expense of high-level defense. No matter how great Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Beckham, Neymar, Messi and Mbappe are, their generous salary does not cover the responsibilities of reading pressing signals and sieging opponents’ defenders.

However, Paris Saint-Germain is now completely new under Louis Enrique. With the help of a group of dedicated young strikers, they won the Champions League trophy historic. In the 24/25 Champions League season, Paris Saint-Germain often forced his opponents to make costly mistakes. Although the Spanish coach asked the team to keep the formation tight and switch the basic 4-3-3 to 2-3-5 in the offensive organization phase, the players have sufficient autonomy in finding on-court space.

Even if Hakimi is in high speed from the wingback to participate in the offense, more teammates will provide assistance when the ball is converted and he has not yet returned to the position of defense. In the past, his unrestrained style would expose Paris Saint-Germain’s weaknesses - because Messi barely participated in front-court defense coverage, and it was difficult for midfielders to fill in time - but now, there are enough selfless teammates to take on such responsibilities.

For example, when observing the Champions League semi-finals against Arsenal, when Hakimi started to step forward, Vitinia quickly retreated and filled up.

After saying goodbye to the compatibility problem of "Messi Mbappe Neymar", the Paris Saint-Germain lineup is now more balanced and has players who are willing to switch positions to take advantage of their position.

Ottoman Dembele is not a traditional center like Ibrahimovic or Cavani. His flexible cruising on the court will undoubtedly make the opponent more trouble. After joining the K77 winter window, it also provided a strong offensive threat on the wing, making up for the weak trend in the area after Mbappe transferred to Real Madrid.

Of course, after Mbappe left, Paris Saint-Germain was by no means dim. They are still a team with world-class players in almost every position. Donnarumma was already full of honor at the age of 26, and most goalkeepers only reached their peak at this age. Fabian Ruiz was a key member of Spain's European Cup last summer, while central defender and captain Marginhos was one of the few highlights in Brazil's "relatively mediocre period".

Focus matchup

Although Atletico Madrid has a brilliant history and Paris Saint-Germain has always been an important force in European football, it is surprising that the first official encounter between the two teams in history only happened half a year ago: in the Champions League group stage, Atletico Madrid won 2-1 away. At that time, Simeone's team visited Paris with its iconic traits - a tenacious mentality, strict organization, and the ability to seize fleeting opportunities - and in that game, Paris Saint-Germain did not show the domineering spirit that later swept Inter Milan. In the 2-1 away game of Atletico Madrid defeating Paris Saint-Germain 2-1, the expected number of goals and results of the two teams were completely different after the game, Luis Enrique had expressed his feelings about the results of the game, and even used words such as "inexplicable", "injustice" and "robbery" - but Simeone regarded it as part of football. Simeone said: "This game confirms what we did well and the concept is clear. We have been working on it for 12 years. Whether people like it or not, we will not deviate from that plan."

Combined with the evaluation of the two coaches and the expected goal (xG) ladder diagram above, the game process is self-evident.

Paris Saint-Germain took the initiative since the opening whistle and took the lead with an early breakthrough. Its ball possession rate was as high as 70.8%, and its forward propulsion rate reached a more dominant 77.2%. Atletico Madrid successfully limited the home team's ability to create "major" opportunities. Of the 16 opportunities created by Paris Saint-Germain, only 12.5% ​​of them constituted a significant scoring opportunity.

Whenever the Paris Saint-Germain player is plugged in at high speed, Simeone's team is also efficient in returning to defense and landing..

At first glance, the picture above seems to be Atletico Madrid in a defensive position, and Paris Saint-Germain is launching another offensive into the third zone. But that's not the case - just 10 seconds before this moment, Atletico Madrid completed a continuous pass with a shot. When Paris Saint-Germain tried to use Atletico Madrid's offensive input to launch a quick counterattack, Atletico Madrid's tirelessness and determination (and of course, the sense of position) stifled the possibility of Paris Saint-Germain's easy counterattack.

When the two teams met again in Pasadena, a suburb of Los Angeles, in the first game of the group stage, it can be foreseen that the high-intensity confrontation of the whole game, and perhaps the fierce confrontation between the two coaches on the sidelines. Another noteworthy opening match in Group B was the Seattle Bayerman faced Bottafogo at Lumen Stadium.

Botafogo has fallen apart since winning the South American Liberators Cup in November last year. After 11 rounds of the Brazil League this season, they are temporarily ranked 6th in the league. As for the Seattle Bayers, they have always been unable to rank the strongest lineup due to injuries this season, but with home advantage, they may consider starting from the "relatively weak opponent" and creating waves in the "Death Group".

The team with the deepest historical heritage in Group B, although Paris Saint-Germain consolidated its status as a top club in the world with its 24/25 Champions League championship, this French team still cannot compete with Atletico Madrid in terms of historical heritage.

Authentic, when it comes to Madrid, the first thing people think of is Real Madrid, and Atletico Madrid is inferior to its city opponents in terms of trophies, but Atletico Madrid is still recognized as one of the world football giants. Looking back on history, the team was founded in 1903 by three Basque students living in Madrid, with the original intention of being the branch of their beloved Athletic Bilbao. However, the development of the following century far exceeded expectations, with Atletico Madrid winning 11 La Liga titles (first in the 1939/1940 season), 10 Spanish Cup del Rey and 3 Europa League titles.

The late 1960s and 1970s were brilliant, and during this period they won the La Liga championship four times. However, the most successful period in team history began to win the UEFA Europa League in 2009/2010, and reached its peak after Diego Simeone took over the team in 2011.

Simone played for Atletico Madrid twice and played 134 league games for the team. After becoming the head coach, he inherited the team tradition, integrated the qualities of trying his best to win in the player era into the coaching philosophy, and ultimately tempered the team into a tenacious and iron-blooded teacher who is never afraid of challenges.

At the same time, Atletico Madrid may significantly rotate first-team players in this Club World Cup, and use new players and young players to give more rest to the main players who have experienced a long season. But no matter who Simeone sent to the field, the opponent will definitely go through a hard battle.

Players expected to emerge: Obed Vargas

In recent years, Seattle Gulf People's Youth Training Academy has continued to produce technical midfielders, and the latest masterpiece Obed Vargas may be the best youth training product they have trained so far.

Vargas was born in Alaska and went to Seattle to devote himself to professional training at the age of 15. He won a professional contract in just two years. Now at the age of 19, he has a stable start in the midfield of coach Brian Schmetzer, with a total of 107 appearances in various competitions - including in the second leg of the 2022 Central and North America and Caribbean Champions League final against Mexico UNAM, a substitute played for 63 minutes and finally topped the team.

Although he is still competent for multiple midfield positions due to his youth and versatility, with Schmetzer changing his team 3-4-3, Vargas has transformed from a defensive midfielder to a more all-round midfielder (Box-to-Box).

He fully enjoys the newly acquired frontcourt freedom, with a pass success rate of 84.2% in the offensive third-district pass success rate, leading all Seattle Bayermen midfielders; at the same time, he is also among the top players in the same position in terms of forward pass attempts after every 100 touches. Despite being born in the northernmost state of the United States, Vargas has submitted a one-time conversion application to FIFA, choosing to play for Mexico, and made his national team debut in a friendly match against the United States in October last year.

Given his extensive game experience, excellent passing vision and positive defensive attitude, he is one of the potential new stars who are expected to make it to Europe in the future.

Story worth paying attention to: How Botafogo, whose lineup "disintegrated" uses the event to accelerate reconstruction

Botafogogo won the 2024 South American Liberators Cup to be qualified for this Club World Cup - in November last year, they defeated Atletico 3-1 in the final. But what is shocking is that in the following two transfer windows, Botafogo's championship team almost collapsed, and star players transferred and left the team one after another. Within a few weeks after the finals, the top scorer Junior Santos switched to Atletico Minero; the captain and defensive midfielder TchêTchê) has expired at the end of the year and is now playing for Vascoda Gama; former Manchester United right-back Rafael da Silva announced his boots at the age of 34; midfielders Thiago Almada and Luis Enrique joined France's Lyon and Russia's Zenit respectively.

And this summer, more players are expected to leave the team. According to TA, three main players, including Brazil international forward Igor Jesus and 20-year-old defender Jair Cunia, may collectively turn to Nottingham Forest.

It is true that Botafogo has introduced five new players in 2025, including former New York City FC offensive organizer Santiago Rodriguez and winger Jefferson who returned from loan from Lyon. However, the number of players leaving the team within six months after the Libertadoes Cup final has reached more than three times that of new players.

Therefore, Bottafogo's lineup is worrying, and the need to rebuild the team's tacit understanding may restrict his ability to create threats in Group B.

FIFA, which you may not know, seems to be equally passionate about new events and award ceremony.

Although its "best" ceremony may never replace the position of the Golden Globes, the series of awards established by FIFA at the turn of the century provides an authoritative summary of the outstanding achievements of 20th century football. Real Madrid led the way in the "Best Club of the Century" selection, winning 42.4% of the votes, but surprisingly Botafogo also ranked 12th, with the same number of votes as Arsenal, Benfica, Boca Youth, Independence, Liverpool and Inter Milan.

Botafogo's lofty status is related to a series of extraordinary achievements in his history: in 1909, they won the league victory 24-0 (Brazil record); remained unbeaten between 1977 and 1978; and delivered more World Cup players (47) to the Brazilian national team than any other club. Botafogo has also won the domestic league championship 17 times in a century.

The club tried to use Donald Duck as its official mascot in the 1940s, but failed to obtain Disney authorization.

Since two of their three group matches will be held in Pasadena, close to Disneyland in Los Angeles, perhaps this time they can bring Donald Ducks’ wish to “bring” back to Rio.

(Armour)

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